Watership Down

[hgfggg]

Watership Down is a classic heroic fantasy novel about a small group of rabbits, written by English author Richard Adams. Although the animals in the story live in their natural environment, they are anthropomorphized, possessing their own culture, language (Lapine), proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel recounts the rabbits' odyssey as they escape the destruction of their warren to seek a place in which to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way.

 

The novel takes its name from the rabbits' destination, Watership Down, a hill in the north of Hampshire, England, near the area where Adams grew up. The story is based on a collection of tales that Adams told to his young children to pass the time on trips to the countryside.

 

Published in 1972, Watership Down was Richard Adams' first novel, and is by far his most successful to date. Although it was initially rejected by thirteen publishers before eventually being accepted by Rex Collings Ltd, Watership Down has never been out of print, and was the recipient of several prestigious awards. Adapted into an acclaimed classic film and a television series, it is Penguin Books' best-selling novel of all time. In 1996, Adams published Tales from Watership Down, a follow-up collection of 19 short stories about El-ahrairah and the rabbits of the Watership Down warren.

 

Credit: Wikipedia.

Edited August 1, 2011 by hgfggg

[kadoatie]

When copying Wikipedia's description it would be polite to credit them :3

 

Definitely heard of it, never bothered reading it.

[hgfggg]

When copying Wikipedia's description it would be polite to credit them :3

 

Definitely heard of it, never bothered reading it.

I forgot, sorry.

 

Watership Down is a pretty awesome book to read.

 

Credit: Me.

[Dr. Paine]

"All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed."

 

This is one of my favorite quotes from anything, ever. I need to find my copy of the book again, it's been too long since I've read it. But I know I love it.

[Kurtos]

I know the movie

[casprrr]

I've read the book several times and have the movie on DVD. The book is awesome. I also have a copy of "Tales from Watership Down", which, like the movie, isn't as good as the original novel, imho.

[chvj]

i have to read Watership Down for a book report. its an ok book just not my favorite genre

[BlueApollo]

I read it when I was in middle school....then I had to read it for my freshman year of high school and I was like "Been there, done that" so I had no problems with the essays and shtuff I had to do for it. It was a good book. Not one of my favorites, but definitely good. The movie....not entirely what I imagined.

[RheaZen]

I watched a movie of it, but haven't read the book. Judging from the movie I shouldn't, lest my nightmares about that all come back.

 

...

[Chiaki]

I watched a movie of it, but haven't read the book. Judging from the movie I shouldn't, lest my nightmares about that all come back.

 

...

Same problem, the film scared the bagebers out of me so bad when I was little I still can't watch it to this day

Edited August 10, 2011 by Chiaki

[TPishek]

I watched a movie of it, but haven't read the book. Judging from the movie I shouldn't, lest my nightmares about that all come back.

 

...

The movie's pretty notorious for that (yes it is a cartoon about rabbits but it is not for kids at all!). The book is a good read though. Lots of political symbolism, but it's not so blatant as to be off-putting; greatly more subtle than, say, Animal Farm. I read it for the first time in 6th grade, then did a book report on it in 9th.

[tyto_alba]

I've read the book three times, and I think it's a fairly good read. First saw the title in a review written on a book in the Redwall series (I forget which one), but the review said something like, "In the tradition of Watership Down.".

 

So I got curious and looked for Watership Down. I liked what I found.

 

The movie was good, too. There are mistakes, but what book-based movie doesn't have a few? x3

[Ramica]

I've read Watership Down many times, the last time was many years ago but still recall a good part of the book. It is a good story, and I don't mind it at all, it can be fun reading. The movie I saw once and only vaguely remember it.

 

 

[lanette]

I own a copy of Watership Down. Love the story. It's classified as a children's book I think, but definitely not too childish or boring for adults in my opinion.

[Leidarendi]

I saw the cartoon as a kid but don't remember much of it.

[hotbottleo'water1]

Rated 9001/10

No, more than that.

It's classified as a children's book I think

Well, it's in the teenager section of my library.

[casprrr]

Some time ago (many years now) I thought I remembered reading that Richard Adams fought in the "Bridge Too Far" battle during WWII, and that the book was a retelling of the battle. I didn't remember the actual name of the fight but thanks to Google, I found this:

http://isteve.blogspot.com/2006/04/watersh...-in-bridge.html

 

 

[OceanSecrets]

I read it, it was interesting. Saw the movie as a kid and it totally freaked me out. I don't know how, many years later, I was brave enough to read the book. Just plain curious I guess.